engaged in nine rounds of HFYB. They predicted reductions in both measurements and the results did indicate that HFYB produced significant reductions in both visual and auditory RTs. The authors recognized their findings as compatible with evidence from other studies that HFYB induces enhanced mental activity and an alert and calm state. They surmised that the abdominal muscular activity associated with HFYB induces moderations in afferent inputs from the thorax and abdomen that subsequently modulate the activity in the ascending reticular activating system and in the thalamocortical brain region (Bhavanani et al. 2003). Further research studies need to be designed to test this hypothesis. Sharma et al. (2014) tested the cumulative effects of both fast and slow yoga breath practices on cognitive functions among eightyfour participants over the course of twelve weeks. Because of the use of yogic breathwork for stress reduction and the known negative impact of stress on executive functions, they tested the effects of these practices on concentration span, mental flexibility, working memory, and information scanning and retrieval. They tested height, weight, RT, and a cognitive functions battery: trail making A and B and forward and reverse digit spans. The results indicated significant increases in attention and memory retention and significant decreases in perceived stress after both HFYB and slow breath practices. Additionally, the HFYB results revealed effects on sensorimotor performance, namely faster auditory and visual RTs. The authors attributed the cognitive improvements to stress reduction as the prefrontal cortex integrates information from current stress levels along with emotional and cognitive processes. Based on their findings, Sharma et al. (2014) hypothesized that enhanced parasympathetic tone resulting from the breath practices could be a major contributor to the cognitive effects. They suggested that the research be extended to clinical populations that may have compromised cognitive functions due to psychiatric conditions. Joshi and Telles (2009) studied the effect of HFYB on P300 event-related potentials (ERP). The P300 ERP measures the brain’s neuroelectric response to auditory stimuli, namely the ability to attend to and discriminate between subtly different stimuli (frequency in this study). It is not a measure of behavioral RT, but rather of underlying informational processing associated with the interactions of the anterior cingulate, hippocampus, and frontal, temporal, and parietal regions. Thus, P300 results reflect attention and immediate memory cognitive processes. Joshi and Telles (2009) collected data from thirty participants before and after one minute sessions of HFYB (n=15) and BAW (n=15) practices. They found that the practices affected P300 measurements in different ways. Breath awareness practice increased the peak amplitude, which is understood to show an enhancement of neural resource availability. In comparison, HFYB registered a reduction in peak latency (the time needed for a task), which is understood as an enhancement in selective attention. The authors offered two hypothetical explanations of the decrease in P300 peak latency following HFYB: 1) interoceptive awareness and relaxation is incorporated into yogic breathing practices Spirituality Studies 2 (1) Spring 2016 41
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